the 42nd president of the united states seized his prime time slot, burning joe biden into tomorrow, so that he, the man from hope, the comeback kid, bubba, whatever, he would be the one to formally nominate barack obama as the 44th president. >> i want barack obama to be the next president of the united states. and i proudly nominate him to be the standard-bearer of the democratic party. >> reporter: clinton held the delegates spellbound with that rare gift of his, speechmaking that is explanatory, down to earth and partisan. all at once. >> since 1961, our private economy has produced 66 million private sector jobs. so, what's the job score? republicans, 24 million. democrats, 42. >> reporter: praising what he sees as obama's willingness to work with his opponents, clinton demonstrated that light, deft touch that seeps lost in these times. >> president obama appointed several members of his cabinet even though they supported hillary in the primary. heck, he even appointed hillary. >> reporter: he made that argument by taking us all back to the future, recalling his own stewardship